Giving the right gifts: Try an eco-friendly gift.
The saying "the more the merrier" certainly applies during the holiday season. But during a season of big gifts, extra food and travel, "more" can exact a heavy toll on the environment.
According to Stanford University, Americans generate 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve than during the rest of the year. While no one wants to take anything away from the spirit of holiday season, everyone can take steps to make the holidays more eco-friendly. In fact, there are various eco-friendly gifts that can make great presents and benefit the environment at the same time.
Opt for locally made gifts
Select gifts made by local artisans or companies that operate domestically. This cuts down on the carbon emissions from having to ship products from long distances or even overseas.
Give climate-friendly (eco-friendly gift) stocking stuffers
Companies like Cool Effect offer gifts for those looking to offset carbon emissions through clever funding. People can buy and offer gifts that correlate to packages like Costa Rican wind power or the "poo package," which funds biogas digesters for family farms in India that capture methane emissions from cattle dung.
Get crafty
Gifts from the kitchen or ones made by the giver can be crafted from sustainable materials. They also show how you care by taking the time to customize a gift for the recipient.
Avoid gag or useless gifts
Select gifts only with utility in mind. Skip purchases that are made only to beef-up the look of presents under the tree or to make it appear that gifting was more generous. Items that a person cannot or will not use will ultimately be relegated to the trash, which is wasteful.
Wrap in reusable materials
Fancy wrapping paper certainly looks nice, but choose other materials that can be reused. Look for decorative tins, boxes, fancy gift bags, and other items that can be reused for years to come. Sustainability is possible during a season of excess when gift givers shop and wrap gifts with the environment in mind. Here's a great eco-friendly gift idea by PinkCloudGifts.com. A laser engraved, bamboo, wood cutting board.